More and more details are emerging about the acting ensemble of perhaps one of the most anticipated projects among fans of action cinema - the reboot "Mortal Kombat".
The main producer is a famous Hollywood filmmaker James Wan (“Aquaman”), and a debutant is at the director’s helm Simon McQuoid, who was entrusted with filming the most expensive film project in South Australia.
Earlier, we already received information about some of the cast roles in the hand-to-hand action movie. So, the ensemble contains actors Ludy Lin (Liu Kang) Mehcad Brooks (Jax) Tadanobu Asano (Lord Raiden) Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero) and debutante Sisi Stringer (Melina).
Well, over the past week, the actors who will play the roles of Lieutenant Sonya Blade, her sworn enemy Kano, the magician Shang Tsung and the yellow ninja Scorpio have become known.
US Army Special Forces Lieutenant Sonya Blade is an iconic character in the franchise, appearing in almost every project in the game series, starting with the very first fighting game in 1992. The role of Sonya in the upcoming film will be played by the actress Jessica McNamee, who played not the main but significant roles in the action comedy "California Highway Patrol" (2017), adventure film "Meg: Monster of Depth" (2018), mystical series "Towards the Darkness" and other projects. Despite the fact that, according to the canon of the franchise, Sonya Blade has close combat skills, in previous film adaptations this role was also played by actresses far from martial arts: Bridget Wilson ("Mortal Kombat") Sandra Hess ("Mortal Kombat: Annihilation") and Jeri Ryan (web series "Mortal Kombat: Legacy").
The role of the sworn enemy of Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs, a terrorist from the Earth Kingdom named Kano, went to the 38-year-old actor Josh Lawson, who during his career managed to work as a stuntman, a voice actor for cartoons and just an actor, appearing in such full-length projects as "Little death" (2014) "Border Detachment" (2015) and "Become Bond" (2017), as well as TV series "Supermarket" и "Crash". Before him, this bright negative role was played by Trevor Goddard in the first film and action movie actor Darren Shahlavi, who brought Kano to life in the web series. It was Shahlavi who was supposed to play Kano in the new film adaptation, but to great chagrin died in 2015 year.
One of the most important villains of the franchise - the sorcerer Shang Tsung - will be played by the actor in the new film Chin Han, who has an idea about martial arts, since he has been practicing them since childhood. Han is best known for his role as the main villain in the first season of the Netflix historical series. "Marco Polo", but Chin also appeared in other series: "Fringe" (2008-2013), "Desperate Measures" (2012) "Arrow" (2012-2019), "Deadly weapon" (2016-2019). The actor is recognized as the most canonical magician Zong Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who played the sorcerer in the original 1995 film and in the second season of the web series "Mortal Kombat: Legacy", however, the actor became no less popular with fans Bruce Lock, who embodied Shang Tsung in the series "Mortal Kombat: Conquest". In the first season of the web series he played the sorcerer Johnson Fan.
Of course, a new adaptation of the cult fighting game cannot do without its mascot - the yellow ninja Scorpio, who has appeared in all games of the franchise without exception, as well as in all its adaptations. Scorpio is a villain at first, but as the story progresses, he changes sides and ends up fighting for Earthrealm. The role of Scorpio in the new adaptation "Mortal Kombat" they gave it to a classic of Japanese combat cinema and to a simply wonderful actor Hiroyuki Sanade (“The Last Samurai”, “The Oath”, “Rush Hour 3”). Despite the fact that Sanada-san in the 80s was positioned as an actor of the hand-to-hand genre, undergoing training from the legendary Sonny Tiba and entering Japan Action Club, over the past decades has acquired the status of a serious dramatic actor. But the point is not even that, but the fact that today the Japanese is 58 years old and his choice for the role of the yellow ninja is not at all obvious. However, the situation can be interpreted differently if we imagine that Scorpio can have an expanded role without a mask. It is quite possible that the plot of the new film, the details of which are unknown, will refer the viewer to the past of the fighters, in which the famous conflict between the yellow ninja Hanzo Hasashi and the blue ninja Bi Han, played by the 38-year-old, will unfold Joe Taslim. Before Hiroyuki Sanada, the role of Scorpio was given to martial artists Chris Casamassa (Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Conquest) and JJ Perry (“Mortal Kombat: Annihilation”), as well as the actor Ian Anthony Dale, who played Scorpio in both seasons of the web series.
I wonder what for Hiroyuki Sanada и Tadanobu Asano, to whom the role of Lord Raiden is assigned, this is already the third joint project. Both of them acted in Hollywood films "47 Ronin" (2013) with Keanu Reeves and "Minamata" (2020) with Johnny Depp.
Also, according to the latest data, an action movie actor has been added to the cast Lewis Tan, however, the filmmakers have not yet named the role to which he is assigned. Before the news that Hiroyuki Sanada will take the role of Scorpio, Tanu was predicted to play the role of the yellow ninja in the reboot Mortal Kombat. Now Lewis is being “wooed” to play the role of the Shaolin monk Kung Lao, who is also participating in the tournament. Someone suggests putting a green Reptile ninja mask on Tang. An interesting fact is that Lewis Tan Already starred in an adaptation "Mortal Kombat"but the series "Generations" never came out. In it, he played a descendant of Kung Lao named Kung Jin. Tan is known for his short but powerful appearances in TV series "Peak hour" и "Iron Fist", as well as more expanded roles in TV series "In the Desert of Death" и "Wu Assassins".
In any case, there won’t be long to wait for news on the final filling of the cast. We really want to find out who will play the odious Johnny Cage and Princess Kitana. But the overall acting ensemble looks at least good.
Recall that "Mortal Kombat" will be released widely 5 March 2021 year.
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Tags: Mortal Kombat, James Wan, Jessica McNamee, Joe Taslim, Josh Lawson, Ludy Lin, Lewis Tan, Mehcad Brooks, Simon McQuoid, Sisi Stringer, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, Chin Han
Tags: Mortal Kombat, James Wan, Jessica McNamee, Joe Taslim, Josh Lawson, Ludy Lin, Lewis Tan, Mehcad Brooks, Simon McQuoid, Sisi Stringer, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, Chin Han
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